


Flight of the Pidgeon

by gloridays



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender, voltr
Genre: AU, Adult Pidge | Katie Holt, Altean Hunk (Voltron), Altean Lance (Voltron), Altean Pidge | Katie Holt, Altean Shiro (Voltron), BAMF Allura (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), F/M, Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Homesick Lance (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Minor Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Orphan Keith (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Sad Shiro (Voltron), Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), kingdom - Freeform, kingdomau, lotor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 23:15:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11908233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloridays/pseuds/gloridays
Summary: Voltronkingdom!AU.18 year old Katie Holt is determined to find her missing family members after they disappeared on a mission to the distant lands of Kerberos. Join her as she faces the deadly Galra forces,as well as their prince, Lotor, who seems to have taken an interest to this cross-dressing spitfire.Will she fall for the enemy prince, or will a broken solider claim her heart?





	1. Prologue: The Disappearance / Act I: Pigeon's Flight

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Pidgeon Lake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11463744) by [GoldenPapillon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenPapillon/pseuds/GoldenPapillon). 



> HULLO! Welcome to my first Voltron fanfic!!! I blame all of you LotorxPidge shippers on this site for doing this to me, but here it goes!!! This is inspired by Pidgeon Lake by the lovely GoldenPapillon, which I highly recommend you check out. I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this one, so feedback is much appreciated! Feel free to gimmie a holler whenever! Well, without further ado, here it is! Hope you enjoy!!!

Prologue  
“The Disappearance”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katie Holt stared at the tattered picture in her hands. It was stained from years of teardrops hitting its surface and slightly crumpled from clenching it to her chest so often. She still remembered the day it was taken like it was yesterday, although in reality it had been years.  
Her brother, Matt and her father had been about to embark on their mission to the distant lands of Kerberos to run some tests for the kingdom of Altea. Katie had begged them to take her with them, but they refused, claiming that it would be too dangerous for a young girl such as herself. 

In an attempt to cheer her up, her brother had pulled out his old camera and the two of them had posed together for a picture.  
Matt’s large, round glasses had sat low and crooked on his face as usual, and a goofy smile played on his lips in an attempt to make his sister laugh. Her face was frozen in a wide smile, which was an indicator that his attempts had succeeded, but you could still see the tears in her eyes.  
Her father had kissed her mother goodbye and drew her into a tight hug before hopping into the front seat of the carriage. Her brother had hugged her mother and squeezed her hand.  
“I’ll be back before you know it, Pidgeon.”, he said softly, and with that, they were gone.

A year passed, and another, and another, and still her brother and father had not returned. The trip was only supposed to take a year at most, and Katie began to worry for her family. Her mother did her best to reassure her, but Katie knew she was just as worried.

Then, the officials from the Altean Castle had come. They were tall, muscular, and broad shouldered. Their shiny armour carried the v-shaped emblem of the Royal Altean Guard.  
A blonde guard with light yellow markings on his face and a scruffy beard stepped forward. 

He wore a grim expression and his voice was gravelly when he spoke. “Madame Holt?” Her mother gripped the sides of her skirt. She forced a smile. “How can I help you, Captain?” He swallowed hard. “Your husband, Sam Holt and your son, Matt Holt have been deemed missing in action. I’m sorry, Mrs. Holt.” 

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Katie watched in horror as her mother collapsed onto the ground, holding her face in her hands and sobbing. Sobs racked her frail body and her short brown hair fell around her face. Katie took a step backwards. The words of the guards kept replaying in her mind. Missing in action. Katie knew what the meant. Dead. Gone. I’ll be back before you know it, Pidgeon. “No.”, Katie thought. “No! No! No!”, she screamed.  
Before she knew it, she was running. She had no idea where she was going. Tears blurred her vision. Branches slapped across her face and arms, leaving cuts all over her. Eventually, she stumbled over a rock and tumbled to the ground. She hissed in pain as she struggled to catch herself, scraping her hands and knees. 

She lay there for a while, breathlessly crying. “It doesn't make any sense”, she thought. “They were with a trained soldier. They were supposed to be safe. They were supposed to come back.” Soon, day turned to night and Katie finally picked herself up off the ground and made her way back home. “They can’t be dead. I will find them.”

Act I: Pigeon's Flight  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katie tugged the wires from the broken firestarter. She grinned. As she suspected, the wires were frayed and disconnected from the core. She quickly replaced the wires and checked the core to make sure the runes were written correctly. She closed the cover with a snap and flicked the switch. A small purple flame matching the colour of the core gently flickered from the top and Katie smiled triumphantly. 

“That should do ‘er”, she said, handing the firestarter back to the man who had brought it in. “That’ll be three crowns, please.” The man placed the money on the counter. “Aw, Katie. I d’nno what we’d do w’out ‘cha.”, he smiled. Katie grinned back. “Have a nice day!”, she called out as he left. She sighed happily, counting the crowns she had received for the day. “That’s plenty to pay for mom’s medicine”, she thought. She rubbed her grease stained hands on the sides of her work apron, and closed up her market stall for the day.

On the way back home, she stopped at Mrs. Greene’s shop to pick up her mother’s medicine. “Katie, dear? Is that you?”, the wizened old woman called from her spot by the fire. Mrs. Greene was rumored to have some amount of future sight, given to her by an ancient race called the Taumeer. “Yes ma’am. It’s me.”, Katie responded.  
The old woman slowly got to her feet and hobbled her way over to a long table covered in herbs, scrolls, bowls, books, and other miscellaneous objects that Katie could only guess what they did. She had always been better with wires and gears rather than pure magik. It just made more sense to her. “Here for your mother’s medicine, are you, dearie?”, she asked. “Yes, ma’am.”, Katie said politely.  
Mrs. Greene rummaged through cabinets for a while before throwing different liquids and herbs into a bowl and crushing them into a paste. She muttered a few words over the bowl, then carefully scooped the paste into a small brown box. She handed it to Katie, who slipped it into the brown pouch she carried at her hip.  
She pulled out four silver crowns to give to the woman, but she gently pushed them away. “On the house this time, dear. On the house.”, she said.  
“Are you sure, Mrs. Greene, I mean-”, Katie began. “I’m sure. Please, stay a while. Have some tea.”, Mrs. Greene said, smiling. “I don’t want to bother you.”, Katie said. “Now, now, child. Come have a seat by the fire.” Katie stepped towards the fire and noticed that not one, but two teacups had been sitting on the table, already filled with warm tea. Katie took a seat on a stool next to Mrs. Greene’s old rocking chair. “So you’re headed out tomorrow morning then?”, Mrs. Greene asked. Katie didn’t even bother to ask how she knew that. “Yes ma’am. Off to begin my work as a maid in the castle.”, she lied. “ Hopefully I’ll be able to send enough money home for mom.” “Oh your mother will be fine.”, Mrs. Greene chuckled. Then her expression darkened. “The castle is a dangerous place as of late. Many false friends lurk there.”, she took a sip of her tea. “But lifelong companions as well. I trust you’ll be in good hands.”  
Katie knew it was always wise to listen to Mrs. Greene’s predictions, as they always came to pass in one way or another. 

“Well!”, the old woman said after a few minutes. “It’s getting quite late for an old woman like me, and your mother will soon need her medicine.” She led Katie to the door. “Don’t you worry about your mother. I’ll make sure she gets her medicine.” “Thank you very much, Mrs. Greene”. “Yes, yes. Now you be careful out there, Pidge”, she responded, closing the door behind her. Katie spun around, about to correct her, but Mrs. Green had already retreated into her house.

XxX

Katie carefully opened the door to the small cottage she shared with her mother. If she was asleep, Katie didn’t want to wake her, but upon opening the front door she saw that the room was illuminated by the small fireplace. Katie’s mother turned and smiled upon her daughter’s entrance. She stood over the stove, mixing something in a pot. Katie quickly rushed over to her mother. She was pale and her brown eyes seemed sunken in and lifeless. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes.  
“Mom! You should be resting!”, Katie exclaimed. Her mother smiled weakly. “I’ll be fine, honey.”, she reached into a cabinet and pulled a jar out. “ I figured I should do something nice for my daughter before she goes off to work in the castle.” Katie’s expression softened. “Here, mom. At least let me help.”, she said.  
Soon, they sat together in front of the fire, happily slurping their steaming bowls of soup. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay, Katie? The castle is a big place, and it’s so far…”, her mother trailed off nervously. “Don’t worry, mom. I’ll be fine and I’ll write to you as much as I can. Are you going to be okay?” Her mom chuckled. “I’ll be fine, Katie. I’m an adult. I can take care of myself, but come to think of it, so are you.” Her mother was right. She had just turned eighteen just last month. Her mother frowned. “Are you sure this is what you want, Katie? I know how much you love working on your inventions in the shop.” “Yes, I’m sure mom. You know how much I’ve always wanted to go and see the world.” This was true, but her mission was top priority. Her mother gave a sad little chuckle. “You’re just like your father, you know. Stubborn, determined, and brilliant.” Tears welled up in Katie’s eyes. “I’m gonna miss you, mom.” “I’m going to miss you too, Katie.”

xXx

Katie woke before the sun came up. She tossed her few belongings into a worn brown pack. Among those things were her diary, her tools, some of her brother’s old clothes, bandages, a pouch of crowns, a dagger, and her picture. She tied her hair back and slipped into a comfortable dress and boots. She crept down the stairs, trying not to wake her mother. Reaching the base of the stairs, however, she realized that this was all in vain, as her mother was already waiting for her, a small bag in her hands and tears in her eyes. “Mom…”, Katie trailed off. “Be safe, my beautiful girl.”, her mother said, pulling her into an embrace. “I will,mom. The guards from the castle are meeting me at a nearby inn to escort me to the castle.” Her mother hugged her tighter. “I can’t lose you too”, she sobbed into her daughter’s hair. “I’ll write you as soon as I get there.”, she replied. “I love you mom.” “I love you too, my little Pigeon.”, she said tucking the small bag into her pack.

xXx

Soon Katie Holt was on her way through the forest. It was a long walk to the inn and an even longer walk to the castle, at least the guards would be waiting with a horse for her to ride at the inn, but for now, she enjoyed the solitude. Katie had never been a very outdoorsy person, preferring to stay indoors with her inventions. She was also quite the antisocial person, finding that people usually got disinterested whenever she talked tech, which was her favorite thing to think about.  
However, tech was not the only thing on Katie’s mind as she walked down the forest path. She worried about her mother, wondering if she would be okay on her own, but above all else, Katie Holt was thinking of her mission. Finding her father and brother. 

Although she would be able to easily move through the castle and eavesdrop with little suspicion as a maid, Katie knew that the guards would have access to certain areas and information that a maid wouldn’t. Katie planned to try to get close to a member of the royal court as a bodyguard so she could listen in on court dealings and hopefully get some leads on the whereabouts of her family. Also, she fretted that one of the officials who came to break the news to her and her mother might recognise her and be more inclined to keep an eye on her.

Once the small village was far behind her, she stopped by a babbling, clear river. She leaned over it to drink then fished around in her pack until she found them. The scissors. She raised them to her hair then hesitated. In the kingdom of Altea, long hair on a woman was a sign of grace and beauty. Katie had always been proud of her chestnut brown hair, which hung in waves down past her waist. She took a breath and snipped the scissors just beneath her ear. If she was going to fulfill her mission, she could not hesitate.  
When she stood, she was a bit taken aback by how much lighter her head felt. She looked down into the river and watched her hair flow down stream. She was amazed to see how much she looked like Matt, although her hair wasn’t nearly as frizzy as his. Then, she changed out of the lilac dress she had been wearing and put on some of her brother’s old clothes. They were a bit baggy and loose on her, but they fit well enough to serve their purpose.  
“I’m not Katie anymore.”, she thought, staring down at her reflection, determination in her eyes.

xXx

Night had fallen as she finally reached the small, ramshackle inn. The sign above the door said, “Juniberry Inn” in sloppy red letters. Katie could see a small stable off to one side of the building. She took a breath and pushed open the door to the inn. Inside, scantily clad waitresses served huge tankards of dark alcohol to the rowdy patrons of the bar, who shouted and whistled at the passing serving ladies. A man sat in a corner, playing a strange instrument that looked like a cross between a banjo and an accordion. A small bowl sat at the man’s feet with a sign that read “Tips”. The inn was, in short, loud. 

Katie scanned the bar for her escorts, until she spotted two men in Altean uniforms.  
One was tall, dark, and lanky. His slender face was framed by shiny dark brown hair. His dark blue eyes were currently focused on a particularly pretty barmaid, who looked incredibly uninterested at his seemingly futile attempts to flirt. His smirk seemed to stretch all the way up to his dark blue facial markings.  
Next to him, a larger man was hunched over a plate of….something. Medium length brown hair was pushed out of his face with a bright orange bandana. Light yellow markings framed the sides of his dark brown eyes.  
Katie dodged drunkards and waitresses as she made her way over to the bar. She plopped down onto one of the creaky barstools next to the duo. The tall one seemed enthralled with the unfortunate lady. “Must be hard being pretty.”, Katie thought to herself before turning to the bigger man.  
“Soooo….I’m guessing you’re one of my escorts.”, she said awkwardly. The man looked up from is plate. “Oh hey! You must be one of the new recruits. The name’s Hunk.”, he said cheerfully. “And this is Lance.”, he said pulling on the distracted man’s ear. “Ow ow ow! Hunk! I was just getting somewhere with this little-. Oh. She’s gone.”, Lance turned back towards Hunk. “What is it?”, he huffed. “C’mon, man”, Hunk said, gently punching Lance on the arm. “This is the guy we’re supposed to be escorting to the castle!” “Who, this small fry?”, Lance said, laughing. Katie found herself noticing how punchable his face was. “Well, what’s your name, short stuff?”  
Katie jumped, realizing that she hadn’t thought of an alias for herself. Although Lance seemed a little slow, she still doubted he’d believe that her name was Not-Katie. “I-I’m Pidge-”, she stopped. What kind of name was Pidgeon? She had just said the first thing that came to her mind, which happened to be her old nickname.  
“Well, it’s nice to meet ya, Pidge.”, Hunk smiled. “You too, Hunk!”, Pidge said, returning his smile.


	2. Act II: Welcome to Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge meets a walking L'Oreal commercial, and the pain begins

Act II: Welcome to Hell  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cm'on, Hunk, are we there yet?", Lance whined loudly for thirteen-billionth time.  
"Lance, bro, it takes the same amount of time to get back to the castle as it did to leave the castle.", Hunk replied offhandedly, digging around in his bag for something.

Pidge elected to stay quiet for the majority of the trip, and focus her thoughts on her mission. Her family. She stared out at the lush green forest ahead of her, planning on just how she would 'happen to be' assigned to guarding places that would hold information of the whereabouts of her family. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Hunk waving his hand in front of her eyes.

"Pidge?", Hunk called, for what she assumed wasn't the first time in the past few minutes.  
"Yes!?", she said loudly, shaken from her thoughts.  
"I, well, I made you cookies.", he said, thrusting a small brown bag in her face.  
"Hey! You made HIM cookies?!", Lance pouted.  
"I made you cookies yesterday!", Hunk retorted.

Pidge couldn't help but crack a smile at her companion's antics, and the fact that Hunk had given her peanut butter cookies, her favorite.  
She hadn't planned on trying to make friends, but Hunk was definitely winning her over. Her smile widened as she bit into one, savoring the taste.

"Hey hey! Share!", Lance shouted, leaning precariously off of his horse to grab at the bag in Pidge's hands.  
"Pfft.", Pidge laughed as she remembered how Matt would do the same thing whenever her mother would bake for them.  
"Here.", she said, tossing a cookie at him as if it were a Frisbee. The cookie hit him square between his eyes, and he had to jolt upright and grab his reigns to avoid falling off his horse.  
Pidge and Hunk laughed as Lance angrily shoved the entire cookie in his mouth. "Jeez, my mistake for thinkin' you were weak. Jus' throw a cookie at any one of those Galra scum and they're finished", he said, spraying crumbs everywhere.  
This display only made Hunk and Pidge laugh harder. "No wonder he can't get a girl to date him with manners like that", Pidge said between giggles.

"Whatever. At least I don't laugh like a girl.", Lance huffed, crossing his arms.  
"Well that's because I-", Pidge began, before realizing her mistake and snapping her jaw closed firmly.  
"Because what?", Lance asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"Nothing! Just leave me alone!" Pidge shouted angrily, a blush creeping across her face.  
"Just leave him be, Lance", Hunk said smiling gently at Pidge.

The rest of the trip passed in awkward silence. Pidge did her best to keep her eyes locked onto her reigns. She wanted to apologize for shouting at Lance, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words. She shook her head. She wasn't here to make friends, no matter how nice Hunk and Lance seemed.

Finally, just as the sun was going down, they arrived in the Altean capital. Pidge looked around, trying desperately to take in all the things she was seeing. There was tech absolutely EVERYWHERE. Artificial torches lined the pristine cobblestone paths, casting a faint blue glow over everything. People of all races and colors shouted from their market stalls, thrusting various foods and objects into the faces of passerbys. A floating cart chock-full of gadgets trailed behind a bright purple man with one large eye in the center of his face.  
They continued on through the bustling city, until Pidge was stopped by an enthusiastic merchant thrusting some kind of orange orb in front of her face.  
"Feeling out of touch with your loved ones? Wanna reconnect with that special someone? Well try the tele-orb! Just give one orb to anyone you wanna talk to and push the rune at the top whenever you wanna chat! For the small price of 15 crowns! But wait! There's more! Buy right now and you get your very own Zreikahq lined carrying purse!", the salesman shouted, waving both the orbs and the bag in her face wildly. 

"I'm sorry. Maybe another time?", she said shyly, urging her horse to catch up with Hunk and Lance.  
"Hah. That's the Altean marketplace for ya.", Hunk chuckled as her horse trotted alongside his.  
"Pushier than the ones back home. That's for sure.", Pidge snorted.  
"Guess they just know a country bumpkin when they see one.", Lance grinned.  
"Oh shut up!", Pidge said, punching his arm lightly.  
"Yeah Lance! You're one to talk.", Hunk chimed in.

The trio arrived at the castle smiling and chatting as if they had been friends forever. Pidge was glad that her outburst from earlier had been forgiven, not that she'd admit it. Her excited chatter trailed off as her eyes were drawn to the massive castle. It was a bright white, with four massive towers surrounding the main structure. The high, smooth walls were dotted with large widows, next to which hung banners adorned with the Altean royal crest.  
Lance leaned over to whisper, "Close your mouth or you'll catch flies."  
Pidge blushed and closed her mouth as Lance and Hunk dismounted from their horses and led her to the stables, where she followed suit. She gave her horse a quick pat on the nose and promised to visit as she trailed behind her companions. 

They brought her to the barracks, which were plain compared to everything else in the city. Several small log buildings surrounded a large dirt clearing where two heavily armored soldiers were sparring with long swords while a bald man with a black goatee shouted insults from a small wooden platform. Lance seemed to notice her staring.  
"That's Iverson. You're gonna wanna watch out for him. One time, he caught me....ahem....chatting with a pretty little thing while I was supposed to be guarding the front gates.", he whistled, "He had me running laps until the next morning."  
Pidge cringed. She could see him being a potential threat to her intelligence-gathering.  
"As long as you keep your head down and follow orders, Iverson won't bother you, but I guess he'll tell you all about it at evening roll call.", Hunk said.  
"This is coming from the guy who had to do two hundred push ups for sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night", Lance snorted.  
"Whatever. Until roll call, lets go get you settled in.", Hunk said, steering her towards one of the small cabins. 

The number 3 was carved above the door frame. Hunk pushed the door open, revealing a room that was clean, but still managed to look filthy. Two rows of six bunk beds lined either wall and a large chest of drawers sat at the end of each bunk. Lance patted one of the beds.  
"This one's all yours Pidgey-pie.", he smirked evilly.  
"What's wrong with it?", Pidge groaned.  
"Nothing's wrong with it.", Hunk said, shooing Lance away.  
"At least I get the top bunk.", Pidge mumbled.  
Upon opening her shared chest, she took the liberty of snooping through her bunk-mate's things just a bit. Honestly there wasn't too much to see. Not much but dark grey tunics, black pants, and a few hairbrushes and combs. Why anyone would need more than one hairbrush escaped Pidge as she shoved her meager belongings into her drawer. She pulled out her treasured picture and placed it underneath her pile of clothes before shutting the drawer and turning to Hunk and Lance.  
"Care to give me a tour of the place?"

xXx

After Lance and Hunk gave her the grand tour of the grounds, a gruff voice shouted for them to line up along the right side of the clearing.  
"Alright maggots! As you all know, training begins at 5 o'clock sharp every morning! Anyone who's late will be punished severely!", Iverson bellowed as he marched down the line.  
"Is that understood?!"  
"Sir yes sir!", the soldiers loudly responded, saluting.  
Pidge awkwardly joined in the salute. She tried not to flinch as Iverson's steely gaze suddenly fixed on her. He strode over to her and leaned down to look into her eyes.  
"You're the new recruit.", he said plainly.  
"Yes sir.", Pidge responded, trying not to sound nervous.  
"Name and age!", he shouted in her face.  
"P-Pidge Gunderson! Age 18!", she responded. 'So much for not sounding nervous', she thought to herself.  
"Mmm....Gunderson. I suppose you don't know how things work around here.", Iverson grinned. "Well, allow me to explain. Follow the rules and do as you're told and we shouldn't have any problems, break those rules...", he laughed., "And I break you!"  
He strode off to address everyone. "Lights out in 10!"

Pidge rushed to make her way back to dorm 3 before anyone else so she could change without anyone else finding out her little secret. To her dismay, an elegant looking man with long, flowing white hair lay on the bunk beneath her. His intelligent purple eyes lazily g at her as she climbed up onto her bed and rolled over onto her side.  
"So you're the new recruit, hm?", came the voice from beneath her.  
"Yup. The name's Pidge, but I guess you already heard that at roll call."  
"Mm. My name is Lotor. I hope Iverson didn't scare you too much. He's quite the prick."  
Pidge grinned. "Yeah I got that vibe."  
"Well, that was just a taste. Just wait until tomorrow. That's when all the real fun begins."  
Pidge groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S CHAPTER TWO! Gosh, life always seems to get in the way of me tryna do stuff. But here it is! Yay! I did a thing for once! And it's only cause' of the lovely comments and criticisms from everyone!!! So thank you!!! I'll continue to do my best! (Also I changed the format a bit, so gimmie feedback on how that is? Eheh) Sorry if it seems a bit short!!!!!!!!


End file.
